The following invention relates to a method of generating bound documents.
It is well known to print individual sheets of a volume to be bound, place all of the printed sheets into a stack, crop one or more edges of the stack and to bind the sheets together by applying a binding adhesive to an edge of the stack of sheets. This is a time consuming and labour-intensive process.
It would be more efficient to provide pre-cut, uniformly sized sheets, print one or both surfaces of each sheet and provide a strip of binding adhesive to one or both surfaces of each sheet adjacent the edge to be bound. Then the printed and pre-glued sheets can be placed accurately in a stack, and the sheets adjacent the spine pressed so that the adhesive binds the sheet edges together.
It would also be desirable to provide an apparatus and method for applying a strip or strips of binding adhesive to a sheet as the sheet passes through a printer.
According to the invention, there is provided a method of generating bound documents, the method comprising the steps of:
conveying sheets of a print medium through a printing station;
carrying out a printing process on the sheets in the printing station;
conveying the sheets through an adhesive application station;
applying adhesive to each sheet proximate an edge of each sheet in the adhesive application station;
stacking a predetermined number of the sheets at a stacking station, so that respective strips of adhesive are aligned with each other; and
performing a binding operation on said predetermined number of sheets so that said predetermined number of sheets are bound together to define a document.
The step of carrying out a printing process on the sheets may comprise ejecting ink from an ink jet printhead on to the sheets.
The step of applying adhesive to the sheets may comprise the step of applying at least one adhesive strip to an edge of each sheet to be bound, while the sheet moves through the adhesive application station.
The adhesive strip may be applied to each sheet by ejecting the adhesive from an adhesive applicator positioned at the adhesive application station without the adhesive applicator making contact with the sheet.
The adhesive may be sprayed on to each sheet. In particular, the adhesive may be sprayed on to both sides of the sheet to apply the adhesive strip to each side of the sheet.
Instead of spraying the adhesive, the method may include the step of bringing at least one adhesive applicator into contact with the sheet while the sheet passes through the adhesive application station.
In one embodiment, the method may include the step of bringing a pair of opposed adhesive applicators into contact with the sheet so that the adhesive strip is applied to each side of the sheet. In particular, the method may include the step of bringing a pair of opposed adhesive applicator rollers into contact with the sheet so that the adhesive strip is applied to each side of the sheet.
The, or each, adhesive strip may be applied to a trailing edge of each sheet. Instead, the, or each, adhesive strip may be applied to a leading edge of each sheet.
The step of stacking the sheets may include feeding the sheets into a stacking tray of the stacking station, so that the sheets bear against a part of the stacking station, with the adhesive strips of the sheets aligned with respect to each other.
The step of performing the binding operation may include the step of applying pressure to the stacked sheets at a position aligned with the adhesive strips of the stacked sheets so that the adhesive strips serve to bind the stacked sheets together.
The invention is now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.